NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Amazon.com Tuesday reported both second-quarter profit and revenue that topped Wall Street forecasts, sending its shares higher in after-hours trading

The world's biggest Internet retailer said it earned $42 million, or 10 cents a share, excluding certain items, compared to a loss of $46 million, or 1 cent a share, on the same basis in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had forecast a profit of 6 cents a share excluding items, according to First Call.

Amazon (AMZN: Research, Estimates) stock jumped to $36.93 in after-hours trading, according to Instinet, after falling about 1 percent to $34.87 during regular trading on Nasdaq.

Including charges such as amortization of goodwill, stock-based compensation expenses, restructuring and other charges, Amazon reported a loss of $43 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with a loss of $94 million, or 25 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.

"These were pretty decent numbers overall," said Dan Geiman, an analyst with McAdams Wright Ragen. "There was some concern over the sales numbers, but revenue also was strong for the quarter. There doesn't appear to be any letdowns here."

Sales for the quarter came in at $1.1 billion, up 37 percent from a year ago and a shade ahead of analysts' forecasts of about $1 billion.

The sales growth mostly came on the back of international sales, which grew 81 percent in the quarter from a year ago. Amazon's North America segment sales increased 20 percent.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a statement attributed price reductions and Amazon's free shipping for boosting total sales.

"In January, we shifted money from TV and print advertising to customers through lower prices and free shipping," Bezos said. "We're pleased with the results."

Amazon said it expects sales for the third quarter of $1.07 billion to $1.15 billion, above average forecasts of $1.03 billion. For the full year, the company said sales would be between $4.9 billion and $5.1 billion. Current estimates are for $4.8 billion in sales for 2003.

Harry Potter mania helped boost sales in the quarter. In June the company sold more than 1.4 million copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth installment of the hugely popular Harry Potter series by author J.K Rowling.

While the company did not give earnings-per-share guidance, it said it anticipates operating income of between $215 million and $255 million for the year, excluding any restructuring-related charges.

Analysts expect Amazon to earn 7 cents a share in the third quarter and 48 cents a share for the full year.